NTU PPF 2019-2021

​Bartosz Regula

Bartosz Regula

School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, NTU
Previous Affiliation: PhD, University of Nottingham, UK.
Email: [email protected]
Homepage: https://bartoszregula.me

 

Bartosz obtained his PhD degree in mathematics from the University of Nottingham in 2018, working under the supervision of Prof. Gerardo Adesso. He then joined Dr Mile Gu and his Quantum and Complexity Science group at NTU as a research fellow, later moving on to the NTU Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship in the same group. His research interests lie in quantum information theory, and in particular in the use of mathematical optimisation methods to characterise the advantages enabled by quantum mechanics in information processing.

Research Interests: Quantum information theory

 

PPF Project: Quantum resources: from mathematical foundations to operational characterisation
Abstract: The significance of quantum information science relies on the fact that certain properties of quantum systems can be used to improve our ability to manipulate information, allowing for the development of practical communication and computation tools which can surpass all classical technologies. Unfortunately, these properties — known as quantum resources — are very difficult to characterise in general, which often prevents us from being able to use them effectively. The goal of the project is therefore to develop a simplified, comprehensive approach to the description of resources in quantum information by exploiting the common mathematical structure behind them. Such a general formalism will lead to accessible methods for the characterisation of resources in a wide variety of physical settings, improving our understanding of quantum phenomena and helping us use them to our advantage in the processing of information

Géraldine Bouveret 

School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, NTU
Previous Affiliation: PhD, Imperial College London, UK.
Email: [email protected]
Homepage: -

 

Dr Géraldine Bouveret is the Gopalakrishnan - Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences (SPMS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She is also an Honorary Research Associate at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment (SSEE) and an elected member of the Senior Common Room at Wadham College, both at the University of Oxford. Dr Bouveret holds a PhD in mathematics from Imperial College London. She initially read financial engineering at ESSEC Business School and mathematics at Université Paris Dauphine and ENSAE ParisTech. Prior to joining the SPMS, Dr Bouveret has been a Research Associate at the SSEE, University of Oxford, for three years where she has worked for the Sustainable Finance Programme and developed her own research field at the intersection between finance, the economics of sustainability and mathematics. She has also conducted a work on epidemic networks at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Alongside academe, Dr Bouveret has held quantitative roles in both the investment banking and insurance sectors for several years within which she has successfully led diverse research projects in financial economics and financial mathematics.

Research Interests:
Her research focuses on:
• Mathematics
• Economics of sustainability

 

PPF Project: Building a financial & economic system resilient to environmental risks
Abstract: This project aims at using mathematics, finance and the economics of sustainability to develop the technical foundations of a sustainable economic & financial system aligned with the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations in 2015 and to be achieved by 2030. In particular, the project will investigate the impacts of environmental risks on the financial and economic system and build a comprehensive theoretical and numerical framework to guide over the short- to long-term run policymakers in the design of policies that constrain financial institutions to integrate these risks into their decision-making.

Jerzy Michal Dziekan

Jerzy Michal Dziekan

School of Biological Sciences, NTU
Previous Affiliation: PhD, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Email: [email protected]
Homepage: -

 

Jerzy is a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at NTU School of Biological Sciences and his research focuses on the drug mechanism of action of antimalarial agents. Jerzy grew up in Warsaw, Poland and in 2007 moved to UK to pursue his studies, earning BSc and MSc degrees in Molecular Cell Biology and Bioscience Technology from the University of York. Thereafter, he relocated to Thailand to conduct clinical research on neglected tropical diseases at Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU) within the Wellcome Trust-Mahidol-Oxford-Research network. This experience eventually led him to undertake doctoral studies in Singapore under supervision of Prof. Zbynek Bozdech, focusing on the molecular characterisation of antimalarial therapies and developing MS-CETSA as a tool for studying Plasmodium falciparum. He obtained his PhD from NTU in 2019 and stayed on to continue his work on this fascinating parasite.

Research Interests:
• Infectious diseases
• Drug discovery and development
• Drug resistance
• Drug mechanisms of action

PPF Project: Mapping the druggable landscape of malaria parasite through thermal proteome profiling
Abstract: Collaborative efforts of academic, non-profit and industrial partners to identify new molecules with antimalarial properties could be considered one of the largest breakthroughs of the past decade in the field of antimalarial drug discovery. However, a critical bottleneck remains in the antimalarial drug development pipeline – the identification of their molecular targets and characterization of associated mechanisms of action (MoA). The cellular thermal shift assay (MS-CETSA) represents one of the best drug-target identification methodologies currently available and its application for the P. falciparum research has recently been showcased by our group1,2. The method is based on the notion that ligand binding to a protein increases its thermostability, which can be accurately measured via multiplexed mass spectrometry. Consequently, it allows identification of direct drug target engagement in an intracellular setting without any prior information on the site or mechanism of action of tested compound. The principal aim of this project is profiling the druggable proteome landscape of the malaria parasite to identify and characterise new potent druggable targets for the next generation of antimalarial therapies. Based on our previous work, we assembled a library of structurally diverse antimalarial drug candidates with undetermined MoA, which evoke distinct response profiles in treated parasites, suggesting different MoAs. Currently, we employ a multi-omics approach, consisting of MS-CETSA, transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic profiling of drug-induced perturbations for these compounds to identify their respective molecular targets and to fully characterise how exactly they kill the parasite.
Kyle Meredith Morgan

Kyle Meredith Morgan

Asian School of the Environment, NTU
Previous Affiliation: PhD, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Email: [email protected]
Homepage: -

 

Kyle Morgan is an AXA and Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow in the Asian School of Environment (ASE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is a marine scientist with research expertise in coral reef ecosystems and tropical coastlines. Prior to joining ASE, Kyle worked as a Research Fellow within the Tropical Coastal and Marine Geoscience group at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, where he investigated the distribution and historical development of turbid coral reefs on the central Great Barrier Reef. He obtained his PhD in Marine Science from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, by building a comprehensive calcium carbonate budget for an atoll reef in the Maldives. Kyle has conducted extensive field research throughout the Indian Ocean, Great Barrier Reef, Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. His research focuses on the relationship between coral reef ecology and coastal geomorphology in both clear-water and turbid environments, with particular interest in understanding processes that drive coral reef bioconstruction and sediment generation. More recently, he has begun to work within highly-urbanized settings to examine the impacts of rapid coastal development on coral reefs, and the potential resilience of these coral communities to future environmental change.

Research Interests: Focuses on the relationship between coral reef ecology and coastal geomorphology in both clear-water and turbid environments, with particular interest in understanding processes that drive coral reef bioconstruction and sediment generation

PPF Project: How stressed are Southeast Asian coral reefs? Assessing change on urban reefs within the Coral Triangle
Abstract: Southeast (SE) Asia is home to vast numbers of diverse coral reefs, but also some of the most densely populated coastlines in the world. The increasing urbanisation of these coasts has led to declining water quality (e.g. increased nutrients, pollutants and sediments) resulting in losses in coral cover and shifts in coral communities to stress-tolerant corals. To date, we have a very poor understanding of how these now stressed reefs will grow in the future and respond to climate change. Key questions are therefore whether these heavily-impacted coral reefs can: (1) retain coastal biodiversity; (2) grow vertically to keep up with projected rates of future sea level rise; and (3) continue to act as natural breakwater structures as reef health declines. A regional transdisciplinary evaluation of SE Asian coral reefs is imperative to characterise and evaluate future coastal vulnerability. I will conduct a “carbonate budget” assessment of reefs across inshore-offshore urban gradients, and between urban centres. The net balance of interacting constructive (e.g. coral growth) and destructive (e.g. biological erosion) budgetary processes can quantify the rate at which a reef will grow (positive budget), or erode (negative budget) over time. This information will further our ability to interpret the significance of reef degradation from human activities, and develop scientifically-based plans for the conservation and management of coral reefs and their adjacent coastlines. Singapore is an ideal location to base this study because it is strategically located within SE Asia and neighbours the “Coral Triangle”, the world’s centre of marine biodiversity.
Lim Jun Ying

Lim Jun Ying

School of Biological Sciences, NTU
Previous Affiliation: PhD, University of California, Berkeley, US.
Email: [email protected]
Homepage: https://junyinglim.weebly.com

 

Jun Ying Lim graduated with a PhD in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. His PhD work focused on the Hawaiian Islands, a "natural laboratory" with which he used to study the interplay between geologic and landscape dynamism and the tempo and mode of evolutionary dynamics. He later joined the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics at the University of Amsterdam as a post-doctoral researcher. Extending on the theme of ecosystem perturbation of his previous work, he led a study looking into the impact of frugivore extinction on modern day plant assemblages, and how Cenozoic climate change and the decline of tropical ecosystems worldwide have shaped the distribution and diversity of palms over millions of years. Jun Ying returned to his roots back in his native Singapore, joining Nanyang Technological University as a Presidential Post-doctoral Fellow in September of 2019, driven by his passion for the local flora and fauna. He now focuses his efforts on better understanding the myriad factors that make Southeast Asia one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, and how the incredibly precious biota of the region may be threatened through anthropogenic climate change and other stressors.

Research Interests: The diversity of the biota of any place and time is the product of a long and complex history of ecological and evolutionary "assembly". As this assembly typically occurs amid a backdrop of constant abiotic and biotic changes at multiple spatial and temporal scales, natural systems are constantly playing catch up, making them hard to understand from a single observational perspective. The role of ongoing, as well as past, environmental change in shaping ecological and evolutionary trajectories is thus something that I’m fascinated with, and I am interested in leveraging natural systems in disequilibrium to better understanding the general processes that shape biodiversity. My work is multi-disciplinary, uses a wide biological perspective (paleontological, phylogenetic, modern biodiversity data), and brings a wide array of analytical tools and approaches to bear on big questions in macroecology and macroevolution. This ranges from big-data biodiversity informatics, geospatial and other statistical models, phylogenetics, and population genomics.

 

PPF Project: The imprint of climatic history on South-East Asian (SEA) plant assemblages
Abstract: Sea-level has periodically risen and fallen with glacial cycles over the past million years. During periods of low sea-level, bathymetric data suggests that much of Southeast Asia was contiguous, very unlike the configuration today. The cyclical coalescence and separation of the islands of Southeast Asia likely has a huge impact over the dynamics of lowland rainforest ecosystems but this remains largely unexplored. A better understanding of how populations of lowland rainforest tree species have responded to change sin the Quaternary will shed valuable light on how Southeast Asian ecosystems have and are responding to past climatic legacy, and better allow us to predict how lowland ecosystems may respond in an era of future climate change and habitat fragmentation. For this project, I will use comprehensive population genomic data and powerful demographic models to infer the population size changes and connectivity of various lowland forest species across the Sunda Shelf.
Maya Jeitany

Maya Jeitany

School of Biological Sciences, NTU
Previous Affiliation: PhD, University of Paris Descartes (Paris 5), France.
Email: [email protected]
Homepage: -

 

Maya Jeitany graduated in 2014 from Paris Descartes University (France) with a PhD degree in Molecular and Cell Biology. She carried out her PhD research at the CEA (Commissariat à l’énèrgie atomique) Institute thanks to a competitive funding scheme from the “IRTELIS PhD program”. After her PhD, she joined the Montpellier Cell Biology Research Center (CRBM) for a first postdoctoral training, before moving to Singapore in 2016 for a second postdoctoral training at the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore at NUS. In October 2019, she joined NTU as a presidential postdoctoral fellow.

Research Interests: Overall, my research aims to find novel therapeutic strategies in cancers. To that end, I employ large-scale omics profiling to unravel new targetable regulatory mechanisms of a poorly known telomere maintenance pathway termed ALT (Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres), present in about 15% of cancer cells, but to which no clinical management is available. In addition, I seek to repurpose already approved anti-cancer drugs to novel cancer therapeutics applications. In both research angles, I strive to understand the cellular response as well as the mechanistic action of the drugs, and validate their safety and efficacy in xenografts in vivo models.

PPF Project: Uncovering oncogenic signaling in cancer cells using Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres
Abstract: The ability to elongate telomeres and to bypass replicative senescence is one prominent feature of cancer cells. While most cancer cells achieve telomere elongation through the re-expression of telomerase, about 15% of all tumors (with a high prevalence in sarcomas and gliomas) rely on ALT (Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres). Previous studies have described specific characteristics of ALT cells (e.g. presence of telomeric C-circles) and an intrinsic involvement of DNA repair pathways, including homologous recombination and break-induced telomere synthesis. However, a deeper understanding of actionable targets specific to ALT tumors is still needed. Recent studies have compared ALT- to telomerase-positive cells in different cancers, but these comparisons were limited to either genetic or transcriptomic profiling. We now know that, in addition to genetic alterations, signalling modifications are fundamental drivers of malignant transformation and tumorigenesis. The aim of this study is to shed light on the unexplored world of signalling networks engaged in ALT cells and to identify addictive signalling that can be specifically targetable in ALT cancers.
Tan Kok Chuan Bobby

Tan Kok Chuan Bobby

School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, NTU
Previous Affiliation: PhD, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Email: [email protected]
Homepage: -

 

Tan Kok Chuan Bobby obtained his Bachelor’s degree in 2010 and then subsequently his Doctorate degree in 2014 from the National of University of Singapore. As a Ph.D. candidate, he was deeply involved in the study of the role that quantum correlations plays in various physical processes at the Center of Quantum Technologies (CQT), Singapore. He then moved to South Korea in 2015 as a postdoctoral researcher at Seoul National University, where he was awarded the Brain Korea (BK) Fellowship and then subsequently the Korea Research Fellowship (KRF) by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea. In 2019, he was awarded the Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and joined as a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow. His current research interest is the study of nonclassical quantum effects in continuous variable systems, and is exploring ways to exploit such nonclassical effects to address important applications such as in quantum metrology. More generally, his research primarily concerns the study of areas where quantum mechanics diverges from classical physics and finding novel fundamental or operationally useful interpretations for them.

Research Interests: Quantum Entanglement, Generalized Quantum Correlations, Quantum Coherence, Quantum Metrology, Quasiprobabilities Distributions, Nonclassical Light

 

PPF Project: Operational resource theory of quantum light
Abstract: The goal of this project proposal is to develop a resource theory of nonclassicality for quantum light. In spite of the plethora of resource theories that have been studied thus far, such as the resource theory of entanglement, the resource theory of nonclassicality of light is still at the nascent stage. For quantum light, the most classical states are typically considered to be the set of coherent states and states that cannot be interpreted as a coherent state or mixtures of coherent states are said to be nonclassical. Such nonclassical states have important applications, from optical quantum computing to quantum metrology. As part of this project. We seek methods of verifying and quantifying such quantum effects, find novel interpretations for them, and explore methods of exploiting nonclassical light sources to perform useful tasks.
Tong Jinchao

Tong Jinchao

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, NTU
Previous Affiliation: PhD, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Email: [email protected]
Homepage: https://scholar.google.com.sg/citations?user=qZLZH3cAAAAJ&hl=en

 

Dr. Jinchao TONG received his Ph.D. from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2015, majored in Microelectronics and Solid-State Electronics, following his B.S. degree from Central South University in 2010, majored in Applied Physics. In 2014, he was a Research Engineer with the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, where he was upgraded as a Research Fellow in 2015 and then as a Senior Research Fellow in 2019. He is currently supported by Nanyang Technological University Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship. His current research interests include infrared, millimeter & terahertz wave sensing, and applications based on optoelectrical semiconductors. He has published/co-published more than 40 journal and conference papers and co-authored 10 patents. He was awarded the National Encouragement Scholarship and China National Scholarship for undergraduates in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

Research Interests: Dr. Jinchao TONG’s research interests are to develop novel and sensitive infrared, millimeter & terahertz wave sensing technologies for widespread applications such as imaging, spectroscopy, communication, and security. In particular, he is going to investigate surface plasmon assisted sensing technology by using antimonide-based III-V semiconductors as well as other semiconductor alloys facing industrial applications. Novel photonic structures based on metals or semiconductors will be integrated into sensors to explore high-performance and multifunctionality for his research.

 

PPF Project: Sensitive millimeter & terahertz wave sensors for walk-through security system
Abstract: Millimeter & terahertz wave owns lots of outstanding characteristics: (1) It is transparent for numerous commonly-used dielectric materials but opaque for metals, enabling its use in distinguishing metallic items such as knives and guns. (2) It is one of the most abundant areas of spectroscopic research, encompassing rotational and vibrational spectra of solids, liquids and gases, therefore, it can be used for identification of hazardous substances such as explosives through their characteristic molecular fingerprints. (3) It is harmless to humans owing to its low photon energy, enabling direct irradiation. These properties make millimeter & terahertz wave is of great significance in future security check. In this project, sensitive uncooled millimeter & terahertz sensors will be designed and fabricated, and then they will be extended into large two-dimensional sensor arrays. After combining with optics and electronics, millimeter & terahertz cameras will be developed for widespread applications such as security checking system, which can be used in lots of public and private places such as airports, train and subway stations, customs checking, and industrial facility entrances. This kind of system allows walk-through security checking, which can solve the issue of current X-ray based technology that requires separated checking formality for human body and belongings.
​Venkata Rama Lakshmi Sravya Tekumalla

Venkata Rama Lakshmi Sravya Tekumalla

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, NTU
Previous Affiliation: PhD, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Email: [email protected]
Homepage: https://scholar.google.com.sg/citations?user=ifOMtREAAAAJ&hl=en

 

Dr. Sravya is a Materials Scientist, working on unravelling the potential of different novel and advanced metallic materials for several applications suiting different requirements including that of aerospace, automobile, biomedical and electronic applications. She considers being a scientist an opportunity to do something significant in this world. It is the incentive of making millions of lives more comfortable and at the same time protecting this planet with environment-friendly solutions, that spurs her on every day. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the National University of Singapore (NUS) for her work on “Futuristic In-Situ and Ex-Situ Approaches for Synthesis of Superior Magnesium Nanocomposites”. She later went on to do a Postdoctorate at NUS on “Ignition/Flame Resistant Materials for Aerospace/Defense Applications”. She will be working on “Fatigue Behavior of Additively manufactured Beta type Titanium alloys for Biomedical Applications” as part of her Gopalakrishnan-NTU Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship. Dr. Sravya is extremely active in research as well as mentoring students in their research projects and has published over 20 Journal publications and 20 Conference proceedings. She has also been a recipient of several early career researcher awards/honorariums like the Asian Deans’ Forum 2019 The Rising Stars, Sparrho’s Early Career Researcher Hero, etc.

Research Interests: Processing, Microstructure, Mechanical Behavior, Additive and Subtractive Manufacturing, Material Design, Alloys and Composites, Light Metals.

 

PPF Project: Fatigue Behaviour of Additively Manufactured ß-type Titanium
Abstract: Titanium alloys are regarded as excellent bio-materials for implant applications owing to their lightweight, excellent biocompatibility, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. However, they pose certain limitations like stress shielding effects due to the elastic mismatch (between the implant and the bone) and exorbitant prices for fabrication which limit their widespread application. To overcome this challenge and fully exploit the potential of these materials, this work aims to synthesize beta type Ti alloys with lower stiffness that better matches that of the bone using Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques. Additive manufacturing (AM) has gained visibility and has emerged, over the last decade, particularly for the relatively expensive structural metals such as Ti-based components. This is because it results in an estimated production savings up to 50%, by basically eliminating exorbitant machining costs and material loss and, thereby, reducing e.g. the buy to fly ratio from 10:1, 20:1 or even 40:1 (in many cases) to nearly 1:1. Through this work, additive manufacturing of beta type Ti alloys will be carried out through careful control of the microstructure and evaluation of the biomechanical properties such as fatigue to achieve a comprehensive understanding and potential of the materials. This research is intended to advance the current knowledge on AM beta-Ti alloys.
Xing Lantao

Xing Lantao

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, NTU
Previous Affiliation: PhD, Zhejiang University, China.
Email: [email protected]
Homepage: -

 

Lantao Xing received the Ph.D. degree in control science and engineering from Zhejiang University, China, in 2018. From 09/2015 to 09/2016, he was a Visiting Scholar in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. From 11/2017 to 10/2019, he was with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Queensland University of Technology, Australia, initially as an Occupational Trainee and then a Research Fellow. He is currently a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at NTU.

Research Interests: His research interests include nonlinear system control, event-triggered control, and distributed control with applications in smart grid.

 

PPF Project: Distributed Voltage Regulation with Battery Energy Storage Systems
Abstract: Photovoltaic (PV) energy is one of the fastest-growing renewable energy sources in the world. However, the high PV penetration level, especially in low-voltage (LV) distribution grid, is causing voltage over-rise problems. Battery energy storage systems (BESSs) provide a promising solution to maintaining voltage stability. Nevertheless, the existing distributed BESS control strategies for voltage regulation still have many constraints, such as vulnerable to communication link failures or inefficient in allocating limited network resources. Thus, this project aims to develop more reliable and efficient distributed control strategies for voltage regulation with BESSs.
Xing Zhutian

Xing Zhutian

School of Computer Science and Engineering, NTU
Previous Affiliation: PhD, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Email: [email protected]
Homepage: https://frank-xing.info/

 

Frank Xing is currently Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow with School of Computer Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Prior to that, he worked as a machine learning specialist for one year at Continental. He obtained a PhD from Nanyang Technological University in 2019, a BSc in Information Management and a BA in Economics, both from Peking University in 2015. His research spans statistical natural language processing and sentiment analysis and their application to financial forecasting and optimization. What he is mostly known for are the concepts of “market views” and “semantic vines”. Frank is well-published in major conferences in the area of Artificial Intelligence. He also diligently serves as Guest Editors for journals such as “Information Processing & Management” and “Applied Soft Computing”. His recent survey on natural language based financial forecasting (NLFF) and book on intelligent asset management (IAM) have already attracted much attention in the research community of AI for finance.

Research Interests: Text mining, sentiment analysis, optimization, computational finance.

 

PPF Project: Innovative Approaches to Portfolio Optimization
Abstract: This project explores innovative approaches to portfolio optimization using textual data and AI algorithms. Instead of merely relying on the price data, the project attempts to build a domain-specific knowledge base. By leveraging human knowledge, we can interpret and jointly model key financial variables, i.e., expected returns, high-dimensional volatility, and risk tolerance, from new perspectives. Finally, it would bring about more robust and up-to-date asset allocation models.